Partner with a student Latino organization to authentically spotlight the history, culture and traditions that define Hispanic heritage on campus. Ideas include panel discussions, a fiesta, Latin dance night or cooking class.

Open up conversations around race relations with your movie showing. Invite campus police, your campus counseling center and social groups to talk about tense instances on campus and how they were resolved and how they can be prevented in the future.

“Our movie series has served as a] great starting point for conversations about things that are really difficult to talk about otherwise. It’s been very cool to see how it’s grown, and I’m excited for the series’ future.”

– Mo Phillips, Sonoma State University

“We showed several films this year to highlight various cultures, celebrate heritage months, and bring to life the struggles some groups have fought to gain equal rights. These sparked much student engagement and some of the largest participation at events in several years. We intend to hold similar events in coming years.”

– University of New Mexico-Los Alamos

“We held a Hispanic Heritage Celebration event with a showing of ‘Coco’ in partnership with Mizzou's Association of Latin America Students. Mizzou has a smaller Hispanic population and it was a great way for other students to learn about another culture and experience something new. We achieved this goal by serving Hispanic candy, street tacos from a local Mexican restaurant and decorated with an offrenda that explained what it was and the importance of it, papel picado, and yellow and orange flowers.  Showing ‘Coco’ allowed students to see a film with a Hispanic cast and another depiction of offrendra as well as showing aspects of Dia de Los Muertos.”

– University of Missouri

“For our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, we showed ‘Encanto.’ We served Arepas con Queso and have educational coloring and activity booklets we put together. It was a blast. When the “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” came on, we had students splitting into a five-part harmony. We replayed the scene a few times!”

– Auburn University at Montgomery

“We hosted ‘Encanto’ for Hispanic Heritage Month and for our Family Movie Night. It was amazing and a great community event. Children were dancing and singing. We also got Hispanic heritage month children’s books and bookmarks to give them.”

– PA College of Health Sciences